Medical examiner rules infant death at San Antonio day care 'sudden unexplained death in infancy'

Michael Carter Donnell, nicknamed Carter, died suddenly on July 23, 2018, after being found unresponsive at Our Little Hopes and Dreams Christian Learning Center on Callaghan Road. He was 7 months old.

Michael Carter Donnell, nicknamed Carter, died suddenly on July 23, 2018, after being found unresponsive at Our Little Hopes and Dreams Christian Learning Center on Callaghan Road. He was 7 months old.

Photo: Courtesy Of Gabriella Garcia

Photo: Courtesy Of Gabriella Garcia

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Michael Carter Donnell, nicknamed Carter, died suddenly on July 23, 2018, after being found unresponsive at Our Little Hopes and Dreams Christian Learning Center on Callaghan Road. He was 7 months old.

Michael Carter Donnell, nicknamed Carter, died suddenly on July 23, 2018, after being found unresponsive at Our Little Hopes and Dreams Christian Learning Center on Callaghan Road. He was 7 months old.

Photo: Courtesy Of Gabriella Garcia

Medical examiner rules infant death at San Antonio day care 'sudden unexplained death in infancy'

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The Bexar County Medical Examiner has ruled the July death of 7-month-old Michael Carter Donnell, who was found unresponsive in his day care crib, was caused by "sudden unexplained death in infancy."

The child's parents, Gabriella Garcia and Richard Donnell, have filed a lawsuit against Our Little Hopes and Dreams Christian Learning Center on Callaghan Road, alleging the "wrongful death" was a result of negligence on the parts of the day care, director Carmel Puente and Linda Mitchell, who was responsible for supervising the baby, who his family called Carter.

Carter died July 23 around 2 p.m., less than an hour after his mother was alerted he had been found unresponsive. Garcia declined to comment on the update to the case.

Puente referred questions to her attorney, who also declined to comment.

The San Antonio Police Department investigated the case, and, following the medical examiner's ruling, determined there was no evidence to support a criminal charge.

Garcia and Donnell recently issued an amended petition in their lawsuit.

"Michael Carter Donnell was neglected for a significant amount of time and later found unresponsive by Defendant Mitchell, in a crib full of blood and vomit," the amended petition states. It later added that "the death of Michael Carter Donnell and the damages of plaintiffs were caused by defendant's wrongful acts, neglect, carelessness, and unskillfulness."

Garcia and Donnell requested damages of over $1 million. Our Little Hopes and Puente denied all allegations of wrongdoing, according to legal documents.

Our Little Hopes and Dreams, which has a stated capacity of 74 children, has been in business since at least 2010. Over the past three years, Texas Department of Health and Human Services inspectors have written the day care up for deficiencies nearly 30 times, including multiple times since Carter's death, according to HHS.

On July 25, two days after Carter's death, the facility was cited for placing two infants to sleep on their bellies during nap time, which is considered a high-risk deficiency. Garcia previously said she thought Carter's death occurred because her son was sleeping on his stomach, spit up and choked on his own vomit.

"I don't know what the truth is, but the fact of the matter is my son was alone somehow," she told mySA.com in July.

In the lawsuit, Carter's parents allege Carter's supervisor at the day care had a history of allowing Carter to sleep on his stomach because "he liked to sleep on his stomach" — despite requests from Carter's mother and doctor as well as state law mandating he be placed on his back.

The lawsuit also states the day care, Puente, and the supervisor failed to arrange the room in a suitable way to hear and see infants, failed to provide prompt and individual attention, failed to provide constant supervision and failed to call emergency management services immediately after Carter was found unconscious.

The lack of information about whether or not protocol was followed that day prompted Garcia's hopes to push for the Michael Carter law in her son's honor, which would require day cares to use cameras inside rooms, particularly where infants are kept.